Google CEO Eric Schmidt implied that in some respects search engines are benefiting from the economic slow down, as he announced a 26 percent increase in third quarter profits. Following year on year growth in search queries across all verticals, he believes that Google are well placed to continue their growth. He is quoted as saying.

“We believe that these results reflect the fact that as marketing budgets are squeezed, targeted, measurable ads are becoming more valuable to advertisers. As consumer budgets are squeezed, people use the web for comparison shopping to hunt for bargains online and in stores.”

However he did add a note of caution, that he thinks it will be tough even for Google to compete during the recession.

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